a week away

Over the last two years with how busy Kimco Plumbing and Fern Hollow have been, Robb and I had been unable to get away for a vacation just the two of us.  We started thinking about it this last winter and realized it had been over 13 years since Robb and I had gotten away on a trip just the two of us.  No family, no friends, no wedding, no mission trip to organize and lead, no conference to attend, just the two of us spending time away together exploring a new place.  The last trip the two of us took was in 2000 when we spent a week in San Francisco and camped along hwy 101 on our way home.  It was an amazing 10 days.  We loved being together just the two of us, exploring new things and seeing new places.

So, when we found out that we were being given an all inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic we were elated. Now, since the trip was through work there would be a couple dinners/cocktail parties we would need to attend but otherwise we would have an entire week to be just us relaxing and enjoying some time in the sun.  This last February we headed to Paradisus Palma Real in Punta Cana for a week of luxury. 

For those of you who are planners out there, the idea of turning over your travel itinerary to someone else...well you can understand when I say it is a little nerve wracking. Up until about 10 days before our trip, we didn't even know our flight information.  We received it though, along with our transportation info and hotel reservations and on February 17th we arrived at the airport at 8:30pm and checked in for our 10pm flight. We were embarking upon a long journey but we were excited. :)

Here is a little glimpse at our trip, from lounging at the beach, to exploring our resort and our trip to Santo Domingo to see the 1st city in New World.  It was a great trip simply because we got to spend it together. I look forward to our next adventure together...my husband truly is my favorite travel companion. :)

The beach in front of our resort was beautiful.  We spent hours lounging, reading and sipping ice tea.

The very first cathedral - built by the Spanish but uses French Gothic influences in the architecture.  It was quite an amazing site to see.

Robb loved all the history - like how Sir Francis Drake (the English Privateer...read Pirate) took over the Cathedral and slept in it in order to show that he had power and control or the people.

Quick snapshot between stops. 

Construction projects take years and years to complete.  We saw many buildings in this phase with no one working on them.

Entrance to the city for the common folk and servants.

The door into the home of the Columbus royals.

The armor brought over by Christopher Columbus that was never used because it was too hot.

As of course, because of the profession we are in, we couldn't leave without taking some photos of the plumbing in the city.  Robb especially loved the downspout line that went against gravity and traveled in an upwards direction halfway down the building. :)

Robb and the guard at the capitol building.

The lighthouse where Christopher Columbus' body is laid to rest.

An amazing trip to Santo Domingo.  There is so much history there.  We loved our day in the city.

Stephanie, our Moen rep. :)

We ended up meeting a great couple (Mat & Rita) who live in Buckley and had dinner with them a couple nights as well as spending one of our days hanging out with them at the pool. 

It really was a beautiful resort and a beautiful beach.  That said, I think the beaches in Maui were more beautiful simply because they were less populated and more serene.

  

Our last photo at the resort after enjoying a wonderful breakfast before heading to the airport.

Hubby carved our names and the date onto one of the posts at the airport. 

Goodbye to the DR!

weekend away with the family

This last fall my husband and I decided we had to stop talking about how we were going to teach our girls to ski someday and actually plan a trip to the mountains and take them skiing. They weren't getting any younger, and as I mentioned in the previous post, time is going by so fast and they are only getting older. ( I suppose so are we.)

I pulled out the laptop and went to the same website we always go to when planning a vacation, VRBO. It proved successful again and we found a perfect little cabin in Greenwater that would work great for a weekend skiing at Crystal Mountain.

I probably should mention that it has been 7 years since Robb and I have been skiing and although we knew this to be true we didn't really evaluate what this would mean when we got onto the mountain. We headed out early on Friday morning straight to the mountain. Once there we got the girls registered and signed in to lessons and being the optimistic pair that we are, we headed straight for the summit. This was sure to be an adventure and I have to admit there was nothing that would have prepared me for the complete meltdown I would soon have.

Luckily for me and all the others on the lift, I remembered how to get on and off of the chair lift. This is where my memory on what I was doing pretty much came to a screaming halt. It was as if I was dropped off at the top of the mountain having never been skiing before. I was at a complete loss. I couldn't remember a thing and I started to freak out. I didn't know where to go but I had to make a decision, right or left, knowing that one way would take me safely to a blue run and the other way would take me to a not very happy double black diamond future. It was at this realization that I completely fell apart into a mess of blithering crying right there on the slope. It was right at this moment my cell phone rang. (I should also probably mention that by this time Robb had already headed down the mountain ahead of me and I was laying in the snow afraid to move any further for fear of what was ahead because I couldn't remember for the life of me what I was doing.)

So I was laying in the snow, a complete mess, and my phone began ringing. I pull myself together to answer it and who should it be but my dad who proceeds to ask me "what you up to?" At that I completely lost it again and he quite calmly demanded that I pull myself together. He reminded me that I am a great skier and I just need to point them down the hill in a pie and it will all come back to me. I don't know why but, after I calmed down, I believed him and stood back up and slowly began to head down the mountain. It wasn't but a couple hundred yards and I was already starting to remember what I was doing and feeling better. By the time we made it down the mountain Robb and I both agreed we were complete fools to try to go all the way to the Summit on the first run and needed to stick to the basics for a little while (at least the first day) until we felt comfortable on our skis again.

After we came to our senses and went back to the basics, the rest of the day went great. We picked the girls up from their lesson at the end of the day and all headed back to the condo. They had a fabulous day and were both moved up to the next level for the next day. All together it was a success and although we were all exhausted, we were already looking forward to the next day.

After three days on the mountain we all wanted to stay there and keep skiing. The girls moved up two more levels and Robb and I were finally comfortable again on our skis and thinking about the next time we would be able to get back up to the mountain. One thing for sure . . . . we will be coming up again soon.

Leavenworth Half Marathon Accomplished!

Wow! That is the most craziest thing ever, but I did it. I seriously want to go crawl in a hole and cry my eyes out but I did it. Not only did I finish, but I ran the entire Leavenworth Half Marathon. Who would have thought that even possible? OK. . . my mom, my husband and my friends all thought I could do it. But in my own mind I was slightly skeptical. Not anymore though. Was it hard? Heck yes. Probably one of the hardest athletic accomplishments of myt life but fully worth every one hundred and fifty nine minutes of it. That is right, 159 minutes to run pretty much 13.5 miles of hills. CRAZY!

That was Saturday morning. Then as if that wasn't enough, we couldn't leave Leavenworth without a fabulous lunch and some much needed exploring, so walking around we did. For the next 4 hours we ate, explored, shopped and visited with friends. It was a great afternoon. When I finally could not possibly walk any further, we found our way to our vehicle and settled in for the ride home.

Yay for me! I am definitely patting myself on my back and once I can walk upright again I might even think about doing another one of these.

Seattle To Portland Bicycle Ride

My husband decided this year that he would register for and ride in the STP, Seattle to Portland bicycle ride. He and my mom would leave Seattle at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning and proceed to ride 100 miles 2 days in a row, making it all the way to Portland, OR on Sunday evening. My dad, the girls and I decided that as fun as that sounded (ARGH!) we would skip the bike ridding part and just spend the weekend camping in Chehalis area. This would give them a place to camp for the evening as well as letting us get away and have some fun.

The girls wait for their Grandma and Daddy to cross the finish line.

Here they are!

Is summer really coming to an end? What did we do this summer?

I can hardly believe that summer is pretty much over. With school starting tomorrow I have to admit I am going through a little shock. There simply was not enough time to do all that I wanted. That said, we did have a busy summer especially July.

We started the month off spending the 4th of July in Poulsbo. The weather wasn't nice enough to enjoy the lake and with busy weekends ahead we decided to stay home. On the 4th we headed over to our friends house to spend time with them and their new little one.

The next weekend we headed to Butte, Montana for a celebration of the life of Jack Fechter. Jack was an amazing man. I grew up next door to him and his wife and they played the role of grandparents in our life. It was an very long drive, but we had a lot of fun while there.

The girls splashed around in the pool we brought and set up at our camp sight. This was after our 1/2 day excursion all over Butte looking for a new tent because ours was mold infested and there was no way on this good green earth I was putting any of my belongings in it, let alone sleeping in it. We gave it a Young family funeral and tossed it into the dumpster.

After the afternoon Celebration of Life, we were heading back to our campsite and kept passing all these fabulous looking old homes out in the fields. My mom insisted that we stop and go and take some pictures by them, even with the obvious signs indicating it would be preferred if we didn't. So, for the sake of a few photos, we ignored the "Keep Out" sign posted, climbed over the fence and trekked out into the field.

One of the other days we decided to investigate the National Folk Festival. I won't go into the details of the festival here, but I don't see us attending it any year in the future. However, even though the festival itself wasn't our cup of tea, we did have a good time exploring the bustling metropolis of Butte.